Session: #331

Theme & Session Format

Theme:
1. Archaeologists and Archaeology Here and Now
Session format:
Regular session

Title & Content

Title:
Possibilities and Challenges of the Archaeological Science Revolution in the Caucasus
Content:
The advent of the archaeological science revolution has considerably changed archaeological research, but also raised issues regarding the integration of old and new data produced by fundamentally different approaches. This problem is particularly extant in the Caucasus, where the opening toward international collaborations has
allowed an infusion of archaeological science applications to answer long-standing archaeological questions regarding the influence or role of the Caucasus in Eurasian prehistory (e.g. animal domestication, demographic changes, chronology). The position of the Caucasus at the bridge between Soviet and post-Soviet approaches often justifies the use of archaeological science as a "solution" to incorrect more "traditional" (often deemed less advanced) approaches. However, this highly undermines the potential of integrating old and new data and the complementarity of "new" and "traditional" approaches to the above-mentioned problems, from the Neolithic to the Middle Ages. This session emerges from reflections brought forward by "The Caucasus Through Time Network" (CTTN), a research network aimed at fostering the development of archaeology in the Caucasus. Inspired by over a year of CTTN interdisciplinary lectures, this session challenges speakers to rethink the dichotomy between the old and the new, and to reflect on how archaeological science can be better integrated with other archaeological traditions in the Caucasus. We welcome case studies that relate to archaeological science techniques (e.g. scientific dating, GIS, quantitative modeling, biomolecular and isotope studies, zooarchaeology and paleobotany) and that reflect on one or more of the following issues: what are the main challenges to include new techniques into field projects in the Caucasus? How reliable are new techniques in answering archaeological questions? And how do the old and new data compare and contrast in different case studies?
Keywords:
Caucasus, Soviet and post-Soviet, international network, theory and methods, collaboration
Session associated with MERC:
no
Session associated with CIfA:
no
Session associated with SAfA:
no
Session associated with CAA:
no
Session associated with DGUF:
no
Session associated with other:

Organisers

Main organiser:
Annapaola Passerini (United States) 1
Co-organisers:
Gwendoline Maurer (United Kingdom) 2
Magda Batiashvili (Georgia) 3
Narmin Ismayilova (United Kingdom) 4
Maria Antonosyan (Germany) 5,6
Affiliations:
1. Cornell University
2. University College London
3. Sapienza University of Rome
4. University of Birmingham
5. Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History
6. Institute of Molecular Biology NAS Armenia